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Writer's pictureAlexandria Pulido
Sep 24, 20235 min read

Week 52 June 12 - 16

Updated: Oct 9, 2023

This week, rose golem character was born, spoken word was made fun of, chewed food viewed, alarms went wailing, and a dandelion sailed on the wind.

Monday June 12


Title: "I object"


Instructions: Use the dried rose bent into the shape of a gavel to object to that which is worthy of being objected.


Why? Sergey had the rose somewhere in his house. I saw it as a gavel and said "I object!" seemed like a fun idea.


Rehearsal Discoveries: Upon gathering rose items, Sergey had many petals from his garden curing. I wanted to eat some. I figured this could be an element and wanted to incorporate more elements by having various items. Since many of the Tenams have been accomplished with a single item, I figured multiple items would be exponentially interesting with which to clown.


I was tired in the morning getting dressed and assumed a raspy, creepy voice. The night prior, I was talking a lot about wanting to be a golem creature in a cave. I think this was what was showing up, but I am just now making that association.


Performance Write Up: I wish I went to more places with my ideas and would want to do this performance again if ideas weren't endless and life finite. Upon examining what went awry, I remember Nancy's coaching. It should be that my character is more developed than a simple "vibe." I did not have any particular desire as a character going into this. I set myself up with too broad of a concept base. How is it I can articulate this 20min later but have failed to do so on the drive over? Distraction? Low standards? Fatigue? Yes. I would like to dry another rose and try this again sometime. Perhaps another golem character. I object to this performance.



Tuesday June 13th


Title: "Spoken Word"


Instructions: Improvise spoken word satire.


Why? A month or so ago, Sergey put some spoken word tracks on to highlight a thematic idea he had which I don't currently recall.


Rehearsal Discoveries: 15 minutes sounded like a long time to improvise, so I decided I should perform various titles to keep it diverse, yet specific. Sergey and I sat in his living room for 5 minutes or so coming up with names for the poems.


Performance Write Up: It was difficult to swallow the humor at times, but there were some inspired moments. It's interesting how my familiarity with poetic speech as simple devout practitioner of art assisted in the flow of creation. I believe I inserted a good chunk of the ideas I had intended on displaying.


What is most fascinating about this practice was how, in the process of satire, I was forced to unveil poetic structure and make obvious the tools with which writers employ. It was a "to the point" delivery of art, commenting on itself in the moment by commenting on itself. How many times can I say the same thing?



Wednesday June 14


Title: "Before After"


Instructions: Lexi chews food and displays it before and after. Peter observes and reacts in the form of drawing. Audience is invited to come inside and take a look using a seeing eye glass.


Why? I think I imagined burning something or a group of items to display as before and after to take place. I mentioned this idea, and I was met with the idea of just chewing food instead. Who said this? I don't recall. It seemed easier to chew food than control fire.

Rehearsal Discoveries: Peter texted me the day before asking me to participate. I told him I might burn stuff at that point. The morning of, I asked him what he felt like doing in relation to me chewing food, and he said painting. We made it work. Also, I had a magnifying glass packed, I thought. When I looked for it, it wasn't anywhere, so I fashioned something out of cardboard. Peter said we should play music. I didn't want to listen to music, so I put ambient rainforest sounds on. This ended up being awesome.


Performance Write Up: My dad came. When I saw him, I said this was a funny one for him to attend. I don't want my dad to think my work is stupid, so his presence brought out a less casual, more committed tone in me. There is a huge range of commitment levels one can maintain as a performer doing a strange and grotesque conceptual piece.

Slow and sincere movement translates intensely with some eye contact. That seeing eye cardboard stick with a hole totally transformed the preciousness of sight on something. You know when you pretend to take a picture with your hands because the moment is so awesome? That's what the cardboard stick hole did for the situation: the looking glass without glass.

Anytime I perform with Peter, there are big surprises. Mainly because he is such a disrupter in a playful way. We often give ourselves open ended tasks with many props/objects with which to interact. Because of this, its pretty limitless what you can decide to do with combining the variety of objects. The layers of the performance have to find new ways to interact, and this is the performance discovery. At some point, I saw the chocolate box, and I realized I had to invite people to participate. I already set up that layer of viewing participation, so it was a simple two layers interacting that created a new one. The vibe was ritualistic absurdity.



Thursday June 15th


Title: "Alarms Unlimited" Feat Lia Trageser


Lia Trageser recorded the alarms she experiences in her daily and professional life as a nurse surrounded by beeping medical machinery. Trageser constructed cardboard machine props and went so far as to bring a toy skeleton. Getting to hear only alarms for audio and witness Lia's pantomime made for both a comedic and serious tone treasuring and beholding the simple joys and devastating losses of life.



Friday June 16th


Title: "Oduvanchik" Feat Sergey Kolivayko


Instructions: Sergey is a dandelion. Lexi picks him and makes a wish. 3 times.


Why? It's Sergey's beautiful, birthday, and his self-given middle name is Oduvanchik, meaning dandelion.


Rehearsal Discoveries: Sergey wouldn't tell me his plan until the ride over. I was delighted by it. We were running late, actually, and Michelle Arneson called me around 9:55 like "Where are you guys?" She graciously opened the patio to put the chairs out.


Performance Write Up: I don't remember for what it was I wished. I struggled to find the creativity to make this performance last a full 15min. The dance-like communication I tried to have with Sergey by applying pressure or weight to him seemed to fail without any prior practice. Nonetheless, beholding another person as a beloved flower of dreams is such a holy act.



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